Ralph B. Everett

President & CEO
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Ralph B. Everett is President and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, widely acknowledged as the nation’s premier think tank for policy analysis and research on issues of concern to African Americans and other people of color.  Mr. Everett was appointed President and CEO of the Joint Center on January 1, 2007.  His visionary plan of action is centered on launching three new Institutes, designed to strengthen the effectiveness and visibility of the Joint Center’s work.  They include Institutes on Media and Technology, Civic Engagement and Governance, as well as Education Policy and Opportunity.   

A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Mr. Everett has a 30-year track record of pioneering leadership in the nation’s capital.  After serving as legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Ernest Hollings, he was selected in 1982 to be Democratic Staff Director and Minority Chief Counsel for the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.  When Senate Democrats won majority control four years later, Mr. Everett was named Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the full committee.  There, he played a pivotal role in cable, broadcast and common carrier legislative reforms, as well as regulatory reform of the airline, truck, railway and bus industries.

In 1989, Mr. Everett became the first African American partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, a leading international law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys and offices throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.  During his 17-year tenure, he specialized in telecommunications and transportation policy and served as Managing Partner of the Washington office.  Mr. Everett was also Co-Chair of the firm’s Federal Legislative Practice Group and a Policy Committee member.  

President Clinton appointed Mr. Everett as U.S. Ambassador to the International Telecommunication Union’s Plenipotentiary Conference in 1998.  That year, he was also chosen to lead the U.S. Delegation to the Second World Telecommunication Development Conference in Malta, joining participants from more than 190 nations.  In Malta, he was elected Vice Chairman of the world proceedings.   

A strong proponent of giving back, Mr. Everett continues to play an active role in community and civic affairs.  He currently serves on such diverse panels as the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute Advisory Council, AT&T’s Consumer Advisory Panel, and Pfizer’s U.S. Health Policy Advisory Board.  He is a member of the Economic Club of Washington, Virginia Science Museum Board of Trustees, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.  He also serves on several other distinguished Boards, including Duke University Law School’s Board of Visitors, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Black Leadership Forum, Cumulus Media Inc. and the Shenandoah Life Insurance Company.  It is noteworthy that Ebony magazine has named Mr. Everett one of the nation’s “150 Most Influential African Americans.”

Mr. Everett’s prior wide-ranging community service included six years on the National Urban League Board and over a decade on the board of the Center for National Policy, where he was Secretary.  He served on the President’s Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and as Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Waste Management Board.  He also chaired the Board of Trustees of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist Churches in the United States. 

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College, Mr. Everett earned his J.D. from Duke University Law School.  At Duke, he held the honor of being named Earl Warren Legal Scholar.

Mr. Everett resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, Dr. Gwendolyn Harris Everett.  They have an adult son, Attorney Jason Gordon Everett, as well as a daughter-in-law, Heidi Jackson Everett, and a grandson, Alan Ralph Everett.